Family photos come in all sorts of iterations, and as a RI family photographer, I've seen them all. Parents with children. Just the kids. Older siblings together. A single person or a couple with a furbaby (anyone who knows me knows that my animal is my kid, so I get this!) Even a group of close friends. Family has so many definitions, and so family photos can be so many different things. As a child, and even now, one of my favorite things to do was pore through my family's photo albums and marvel at old photos of my parents, as well as newer photos of my own immediate family.

It's a new year, and lots of people make resolutions for the new year. If you haven't made this resolution already, I'd like to suggest it for you: make 2017 the year that you get your family's photos taken. Whether it be for the first time or the fifth time; whether it's a traditional family or something a little different, family photos are so important. I've got two reasons why 2017 should be your year for family photos (and I'd love to be the one to take them). So to find out why you should have your family's photos taken this year, read on.

1. For the present

Maybe you're a new family who just had a baby. Maybe you've got a few growing kids, or you have one about to go to college, or you've got a pet who's been with you awhile who's still spry but slowing down a little. The bottom line is you want to remember the now. You want to remember this moment. Time passes fast. They're only this little once. Each moment happens only once. You want to remember this now, this present, and and bring it with you to the future.

2. For the future

I am very lucky to come from a family where photos are plentiful. In my parents' home, there is a photo of my great-great-grandmother. I spend so much time looking at photos of my parents as children; of my own immediate family through the years. It all gave me a sense of belonging and a connection to my past.

There are lots of moms (and dads, too, but honestly, more moms) who say they wish they were in photos with their children, or they wish there were more photos of them, period, so their children would have some to look at now, and in the future. The future is uncertain. I cannot tell you how much those children would appreciate if their moms and dads and aunts and uncles and dogs and cats got in a photo. The future value of photos like that is immeasurable. Believe me. Your future family will thank you over and over for them.